Hi. Welcome back to engVid. My name's Adam. Nice to see you again. Today's lesson is about
idioms. Everybody loves to learn new idioms because they're used every day. Sometimes
they're a little bit hard to understand. Today, we're looking at colourful idioms, idioms
that use colour in their expression. Before I begin, "colourful", you'll notice I used
"u". I'm Canadian, we use the "u" just like the British people. Americans use only the
"o", no "u". I used both just to make everybody happy. So just so you understand, it's not
a spelling mistake either way.
Let's begin. So I have a few idioms here. The thing about idioms, they never mean what
the words say; you have to actually understand what the idiom means and how to use it.
So, if someone sees the world or sees a situation "through rose-tinted glasses". "Glasses" are
glasses you wear on your head. "Rose-tinted", there's a little bit of a pink shade on the
glass. So you're seeing the world a little bit pinkish, like the colour of the rose.
That means you're very optimistic. Even in a bad situation, you're going to see everything
as good. You're seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses. Right? You work at a company and
they're about to layoff half of the staff; half of the people are going home, no more
job. And you think: "Oh, this is a great opportunity for me to find a new job and get a... advance
my career." So I am seeing the situation through rose-tinted glasses. I don't see the bad economy,
I don't see the fact that I'm 55 years old and I don't have any skills except for what
I do in my job, but I will be okay. "Rose-tinted glasses".
"Give someone the green light." You often hear this about governments giving the army
the green light to attack. "To give the green light", to give permission. Okay? Go ahead,
like a green light in traffic. You see the green light, press the gas, you go. So, for
example: The... excuse me. The board of directors gave the CEO the green light to layoff half
his staff, even the ones wearing rose-tinted glasses. Okay? So everybody's going home;
"With flying colors", we always add this expression to the end of an event or action. So, for
example: "He passed his interview with flying colours." With flying colours means very,
very successful; he did very, very well. He went to a job interview, he passed with flying
colours. He got offered the job. Okay?
If you're "tickled pink", means you're very, very happy. Like tickled, tickle, funny - right?
You're tickled pink, you get all pink in the face, you're very happy. So, Tom's grandfather
was very... was tickled pink when he found out that Tom and his wife were pregnant. Now,
I say: "Tom and his wife were pregnant," because it's common for couples to think of themselves
as pregnant, even though it's only the woman, of course.
"Paint the town red." This is a very good expression. You're studying for your English
exams. Okay? You're very hard... studying very hard, very hard, very hard. You finish
your exams, you're free. This weekend, you're going to go paint the town red, means you're
going to go party. You're going to have a very good time, you're going to spend all
night drinking, and partying, and clubs, and dancing, and people. Have a very good time,
you're going to paint the town red; do everything.
"Blue-collared worker/white-collared worker". This might be a very common expression for
you. "Blue-collared". So, first of all, a collar, if you have a shirt with a tie let's
say or no tie. This is the collar-sorry about the tapping-you have a collar. If it's blue,
means you're working in a factory or a garage; you're a mechanic or you're working in some
skilled job. If you're a white-collared worker, if the colour of your collar is white, means
you're working in an office, you're some kind of professional. Okay?
Now, if you're the type of person who "sees things in black and white" means you're very
straightforward, very simple, very direct. Maybe a little bit lacking imagination, not
necessarily. Things are black and white; there's no grey, there's no middle ground. It's like
this or like that; no other way. Right? So you're seeing things in black and white. Everybody
has a... Somebody comes across a problem and some people see things as possibilities. The
guy with the rose-tinted glasses, he sees potential. The guy who sees things in black
and white, he thinks: "I'm out of a job, I'm in trouble." He doesn't imagine beyond that. Okay?
So these are some very useful expressions, used every day, good idioms. You can practice
using these at www.engvid.com. There's a quiz there. And, of course, ask questions. See you again.